Update the damn thing already!

I know, I know, no updates in a while. Here's the scoop:

Melissa and I left Annabel with Grandma D on Saturday so that we could go out with Doris and Chris. We took in a showing of Iron Man (AWESOME!) and then went off to the most unfortunately-named place in America (well, besides Bunghole Liquors in Boston,)the Beveridge Place Pub. Try explaining where you are going to someone over the phone. They will frantically be googling "beverage place pub", and ending up with nada. Anywho, it was a blast to get out of the house without the little one in tow.

Speaking of the little one, Annabel is just shy of 8 months, and she is displaying super-genius powers already. She's been crawling for a long while now, pulling herself up on furniture, and has identified me repeatedly as "Da Da". Next week, she's probably going to balance my checkbook. Here is a shot of her conducting static experiments while smartly wearing protective gear.


Other than that, I heard the demos from Brian Wilson's next song-cycle, That Lucky Old Sun. It is quite good. It reminds me of Orange Crate Art, which was a great song, but a terrible album (thanks Van Dyke!) It should be released in September, and will no doubt be compared to sMiLe for its content and style.

The Curtains record is moving along. We are hoping to drop it sometime around the end of July.

Man, I'll get over Brian Wilson one of these days...

So, as the title suggests, I'm stuck in Wilson land yet again. I picked up Sunflower/Surf's Up used at Easy St. Records and proceeded to bash the two of them without mercy on the ride home. WRONG! Well, at least half-wrong. I am seriously starting to put Sunflower upon the pedestal of Beach Boys awesomeness. Serously, I'm starting to think that "This Whole World" is one of Brian's best songs EVER! Admittedly, I'm a total music dork, but the man can pack more musical development in two minutes of song than anyone I've ever heard. Go and iTunes that sucker right now... I dare you! Anywhen, the rest of the album is very solid. The only hitches are that "Add Some Music to Your Day" (the single) is really poor, and that "Forever" was sung by Uncle Jesse on Full House not once, but twice. Does anyone want to help me beat up Mike Love yet? It's sad really, because "Forever" is so goll-darn beautiful. I'm poised to steal the whole na-na-na background vocals for my next tune.

Speaking of next tunes, I've got a new one rolling around my brain. I'll post it up as soon as I demo it. In other music news, Curtains will be heading into the studio to record the next record this weekend. I'll post some pictures and/or snippets next week.

Oh, Annabel has a new tooth to be celebrated. Huzzah! You should head on over to Melissa's blog to see a cute picture of Annabel with her hearing gear on. 'Nuff said for now...

Oasis and Brian Wilson in the same post... strange

Well, as the title suggests, I've been listening to Oasis pretty heavily lately. I guess the fact that they are in the studio and under a new contract is bringing them back in my mind. I have been spending some time re-evaluating Standing On the Shoulder of Giants(sic). The "sic" comes from the fact that the Newton quote is actually "... on the shoulders of giants.", but Noel was drunk when he saw it, and wrote it down as "Standing On the Shoulder of Giants - a bum title." That is pretty frickin' hilarious that he kept it. Anywho, I listened to that album twice this week, and today checked out Heathen Chemsitry again. All in all, they are somewhat lazy albums, but have aged better than I remembered them. SOtSoG is over-the-top psychedelic. I saw them on that tour, and remember them having a keyboard player bashing away at a mellotron in the background of the stage. I think it must have been Jay Darlington (of Kula Shaker... more on that later,) as he played on almost all of their albums including the one they are recording now. Aside from that ramble, listening with fresh ears, the album sounds pretty refreshing. Additionally, Heathen Chemistry comes off as very solid, but surprisingly, Noel is the worst songwriter on that effort. Normally I'm all about Noel, but Liam showed him up right proper on that album. Scary, that!

By the way, here's a shot from the proceedings for the 7th studio album by the lads. Notice a very Ringo-like Zak Starkey to the right:






Back to the aforementioned Kula Shaker, their album Strangefolk arrives on this side of the pond in a month or two, and I am damn excited. I downloaded their new EP from iTunes, and cannot wait until the LP comes out here. I'll be damned if I'm gonna order that import from Easy Street, ex-employee discount and all! I saw them at the Metro in Chicago on one of their last gigs before they broke up, and truly miss their increasingly cranky Harrisonesque music. To tie it all together, Jay Darlington no longer plays with them. That's a shame, as he really added a ton to their sound.


As for Mr. Wilson (Dennis!), he is going to be recording That Lucky Old Sun in January. I've yet to download a bootleg of the recent performance, but anything involving Wilson and Wondermints, and I'm sold. Yes, I admit that the Christmas album was almost total ass, but it still sounded great. To be honest, I would love a new Wondermints album, but they are taking one for the team by keeping Brian performing, writing, and healthy. I've yet to track down if they played on "Speed Turtle" with him, but I'm sure some trolling of the usual haunts will turn something up.


Doo-be-do, back to it...